This invention relates generally to agricultural combines, and more particularly, to a flow guide for the discharge outlet of a rotary crop residue spreader, the flow guide including a plurality of fingers extending generally circumferentially relative to an arcuate or circular path of crop residue flow adjacent to a discharge opening of the spreader such that some of the crop flow will pass between the fingers so as to be distributed over a portion of an agricultural field adjacent to and below or nearby the spreader and some of the flow will be guided along the fingers so as to be propelled from the spreader and distributed over more distant portions of the field.
Currently, combines typically include a spreader for distributing material other than grain such as straw and chaff separated from the harvested crop over the crop field. In many instances it is desirable for the straw, chaff and other residue to be spread as evenly as possible over the width or swath of that section of the field over which the combine has just passed and harvested crop from, to avoid problems resulting from uneven spreading, such as, but not limited to, difficulty in passage of fall tillage tools through residue clumps or thick areas; uneven insulation of the field resulting in uneven field warming and thawing and crop emergence during the following planting season; and increased rodent and insect habitat.
Combine headers having a widths of 30 feet are currently well known, and headers having widths of 36 feet are also known. Although various crop residue spreaders are known which can propel residue a distance equal to about one half of these widths are available, a shortcoming found when using some such devices is that, in achieving a long distance spreading capability, often the spreader performs less than satisfactorily in spreading the crop residue evenly over areas of a field adjacent to, more particularly, near, behind or beneath, the spreader itself.
Thus, what is sought is a flow guide for a rotary crop residue spreader having a long distance spreading capability, but having a capability to better and more evenly spread crop residue beneath and nearby the spreader and outwardly away from the spreader, to avoid shortcomings and problems of the prior art devices discussed above.
What is disclosed is a flow guide for a crop residue spreader which overcomes many of the shortcomings and problems set forth above. The spreader typically includes an element disposed in a housing and rotatable in a predetermined direction about an axis for driving a flow of crop residue through a discharge opening or outlet of the housing located at a predetermined angular position around the axis. In a preferred embodiment, the flow guide includes at least two elongate fingers, the fingers having proximal ends located adjacent to an upstream end of the discharge opening and the fingers extending from the proximal ends generally circumferentially to an arcuate or circular path of the flow to distal ends located spaced outwardly from the housing and the discharge opening, adjacent ones of the fingers defining spaces therebetween such that a desired portion of the flow will pass through the spaces so as to be spread onto an area of an agricultural field adjacent to the spreader and the remaining portions of the flow will be guided along the fingers so as to be spread over portions of the field a desired distance away from the spreader, such that the crop residue will be distributed evenly over a desired portion of the swath of a combine on which the spreader is used.
According to another preferred aspect of the invention, a shield or deflector extends across an upstream end of the spaces between the fingers to block or limit flow of the crop residue through the spaces adjacent the upstream end thereof so as to produce a desired pattern of flow of the crop residue onto the areas of the field adjacent to the spreader. In this regard, in another preferred embodiment the shield or deflector can have a downstream edge that extends diagonally across the spaces at a desired angle to the longitudinal extent of the fingers so allow more flow through the spaces adjacent to one end of the spreader and less flow through the spaces adjacent to the opposite end. Other shapes and configurations for the downstream edge can also be used to provide desired dispersal of the crop residue over areas of a field adjacent to the spreader. The spreader can be oriented with the rotational axis oriented horizontally or nearly horizontally, such that the flow of crop residue through the spaces between the fingers is directed downwardly onto the ground beneath and closer to the spreader, or the axis can be more vertical, as desired, for achieving a desired crop residue distribution. The spreader can also have more than one of the rotatable elements. Using the present flow guide, better and more even distribution of the crop residue over an agricultural field is achieved, particularly with respect to areas of the field adjacent to the spreader, that is, generally beneath and behind the spreader, and areas of the field more distant from the spreader, such as at the extreme extent of the distribution pattern, which can be, for instance, equal to one-half the 30 to 40 foot width of the header of the combine.